The Centurion

Love at First Swipe? Today’s Online Dating Networks

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Tinder. Bumble. MeetMe. Badoo. These are the dating apps taking over our smartphones, responsible for the sweet ding of notifications swarming our screens with matches of possible loves of our lives only a swipe away.
First impressions have been reduced to profile pictures from our good angles and biographies admitting our sarcastic faults. If you add an adorable dog into the mix, you’re instantly guaranteed to get more matches.
These extremely minute peeks into our everyday lives is seemingly good enough to make someone decide on whether or not we’re worthy of their precious time.
Out of a small sample group of 22 local students with a variety of majors, aged 18 to 25, 16 of them said they use some form of a dating app, mostly Tinder.
While some students have tried them out before, their reasons for stopping vary. The same can be said for people who continue to use it as a form of dating.
Paige Kaufmann, of Warminster, a psychology major here at Bucks used dating apps but quickly stopped. “Meeting people alone after only talking to them makes me incredibly nervous,” she said. It is a trend that seems to be prominent throughout our students.
Another student, Jackie Rose, an 18-year-old cinema video major from Warminster, has also stopped using dating apps, not only because it “felt inauthentic” but because “killers, rapists, and stalkers were the reason [she] was hesitant.”
For many, the risk doesn’t seem worth it. However, not all of our students are concerned about worst case scenarios, instead seeing dating apps as an easier way to communicate.
Bridget Neirotti, 19-year-old communications major and Morrisville local, believes “it’s easier to open up online because you don’t have to worry about facing rejection in person.” Our screens act as a “shield for your feelings,” she said.
“If the relationship goes south it’s easier to block out that person online than it is to block them out of real life,” Neirotti noted. This take on dating online is a shared viewpoint of plenty of students. The fear of not being good enough is easier hidden and dealt with when one doesn’t have to face the other person.
Most students see the double-edged sword of online dating as well, citing the toll it takes on our face to face communication skills.
Tyler Cook, another cinema video major, 25, from Doylestown, sees dating apps as a necessary evil in today’s society. “It’s dating without having to leave your house.” In other words, it’s convenient and attractive.
Izabelle Cammarata, 19, nursing major and Yardley resident, says “I think it does kind of hurt people’s social skills because they might not have the courage to talk to someone in person when that might be the healthier thing to do.”
It seems our modern-day fairytale love stories may soon begin with a different twist: “we matched, and I knew.”